After 26 straight years of August luncheons at various downtown hotels, the 49ers have pulled the plug. They told the chamber this year that they wouldn't be coming back, and word of that decision is now getting around.

Team owner John York was adamant about the move after being embarrassed at last year's luncheon, according to chamber president Steve Falk. Mayor Gavin Newsom and Sen. Dianne Feinstein took advantage of last year's get-together to pull for the team to stay in San Francisco rather than go through with its proposed move to Santa Clara.

"We're very disappointed," Falk said Thursday. "For 26 years, the luncheon has been partially a chamber fund-raiser and partially a fund-raiser for the 49ers Foundation. This is the only public appearance the entire team makes in the community."

At last year's luncheon at the Hyatt Regency, Newsom and Feinstein urged the 49ers to accept a San Francisco stadium plan. With York sitting just a few feet away, Feinstein twice asked the crowd of 800, "Where do you want the 49ers to continue to play?" Each time, the loud answer was "San Francisco!"

Team spokesperson Lisa Lang wouldn't say whether the political cheerleading caused York to bail.

"The event for 26 years has been a celebration for the players," she said. "It has not been about politics. We wanted it to get back to being a celebration. If we're going to take 85 players away from practice and do something for the community, we want to make sure it's a positive experience for the players."

She said the club proposed a community-volunteer event with the chamber, but the two sides "weren't able to pull it off this year."

Falk said, "I can understand (York's) disappointment when he brings all his players and coaches - and gets publicly criticized by two high-profile elected leaders. But you can also understand why the mayor of San Francisco and the former mayor would feel strongly about the team considering going elsewhere."

Falk said he offered to keep the politicians out of the luncheon altogether, but said that didn't mollify York: "He wasn't interested."

Lang said: "I don't recall any discussion like that."

People who bought the $125 tickets to the luncheon - it was $2,500 for a table for 10 - got to talk to a player or a coach at their table. Each member of the team was introduced to loud applause, and the team also used the occasion to hand out various awards to players. Last year the event raised about $10,000 for the 49ers Foundation, the club's charitable arm, Falk said.

Even after Tuesday's 61 percent vote in support of Proposition G to develop the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and Candlestick Point - including a possible new stadium for the 49ers - the club prefers its proposed site in Santa Clara. The club has set a deadline of 2012 for completion of a new stadium.

The mayor's office had no comment on the end to the luncheon, but spokeswoman Giselle Barry said, "We're pleased with the passage of Prop. G this week. We would welcome the 49ers to engage in that process if they so choose."

Prop. G "didn't change the status of where our focus resides," Lang said. "That's Santa Clara." That's also where the team will hold its biggest fund-raiser, the Pasta Bowl, at the Santa Clara Convention Center on Aug. 2. The event, in which players and Silicon Valley CEOs serve dinner to fans, drew 900 people last year and raised $100,000 for two nonprofits.

Briefly: Offensive tackle Barry Sims, released by the Raiders in the offseason, will visit the 49ers Monday for a physical and to meet with team officials, according to his agent, Ken Vierra.